Re:A Spatial Tear
by Twilight PhoenixFyre
Summary: Are you ready to deal with the consequences of your actions, Kairi? Or will you fail to contain the forces you have unleashed upon yourself and those you hold dear? Sequel to Re:A Ripple in the Abyss. 'T' for mild language/violence. First chapter is a place-holder from Colored Ripples for now. Will be replaced later when I start updating. Temporary cover.


_Hello. This is temporarily holding the place for Re:AST. I shall replace this with the actual first chapter of Re:AST once I've gotten far enough ahead to update regularly without worries. This chapter will then be moved to Colored Ripples._

_Since this is the only chapter here, I should probably mention that I don't own Tales of the Abyss._

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**Purple Ripples – Kairi  
Moving Onward**

Pain.

Fire, and thorns, and rough, wooden spikes... Lots of pain, basically. Most of it in my knee, but a good deal of fire throughout my whole body. Oh, and thorns in my gut and chest. Not my sides, surprisingly. But where my heart was beating frantically, I felt like someone was stabbing me. Over, and over, and over again.

"Get back here, you little bitch!"

If you're wondering, that was Danté. He's pissed off. Why? Because he's blind. I gave him credit for being able to follow the sound of my heavy breathing so easily. Still, he was tripping over tree roots a lot more often than I was. How helpful of him. But how did he end up in that situation, you wonder?

"_We got word from Van."_

_I froze, squeezing up against the wall along the entrance to my little side-cavern to listen in to the conversation Zion and Danté were having, even though I was on the second plane and they couldn't see me anyway._

"_So? I'm not chasing after the red-haired brat."_

"_You drugged her this morning, right?" Zion asked, seemingly changing the subject entirely. I heard Danté huff._

"_Of course. That naïve little girl won't be waking up for hours yet, if she wakes up today at all," he replied confidently. I smirked. Well, it would have helped if I'd actually been stupid enough to drink the drugged water._

"_Apparently Van's sister caused a hyperresonance with the replica. Which means that the year of conflict has begun. We have to keep her down here until Van is dead," Zion said._

_I frowned. Year of conflict? The game events lasted about a year... Was that what they were talking about?_

"_Alright, whoop-dee-doo. Your point?" Danté replied. I heard Zion groan._

"_I'm trying to clean up her mess. Everything's going to be a little unpredictable as it is. Dark, Cantabile... they should be dead. The Prophecy stopped referencing them months ago," he said, confirming my suspicions that my presence had saved their lives. This Prophecy of theirs, though... "I need to get going. Take care of her, will you? We'll need her the minute that Lorelei is freed."_

_I heard footsteps walking away and slipped back into my body, reaching out with my mind this time. I'd done this yesterday and found four minds other than my own; Danté, Zion, Star, and Ryndor. But I'd heard Star and Ryndor arguing the night before, something about an assignment Ryndor had taken. So he was probably gone. Zion was leaving, and Star..._

_Also gone, I realized. Which left me with just Danté._

_I frowned, sitting up and testing my right knee. It was only Remday after all, even if it was very late. I knew it was nowhere close to ready, but would I ever get this good a chance again?_

_Deciding that the answer to that was 'no,' I pulled the green dress Nephry had bought me in the very beginning out and took the small blade I kept with me to it, cutting it into long strips. The knife was actually one of Sync's original dozen. Sync was only carrying ten on him when..._

_Asch had the other one. Just one more sign of our camaraderie, I suppose. But the knife had its purposes, like cutting strips so I could bind my knee up tight. The more support I could give the joint, the better. I'd apologize to Nephry for destroying the dress later, once I'd apologized for letting her think I was dead._

I clenched my jaw, refusing to let the pain get to me.

"Meow!"

I couldn't help but smirk. "You got that right, Valkyria," I told the kitten running at my side. She was already three inches taller than she had been when I had first received her, and that extra length had all gone to her legs, it seemed.

I heard Danté grunt again and dared a glance over my shoulder. I couldn't see him behind me, so I turned my eyes forward while reaching back with my mind instead.

Damn it... Zion is not going to be happy... And I hope this isn't permanent... I heard him thinking, the last part being directed toward the fact that he couldn't see. I took a deep breath and slowed to a walk, making a zigzagging path for a while before I stopped and sat against a tree to rest my aching leg.

Then I reached out again, praying I was near civilization. I brushed against Danté's mind again, but ignored him this time. He was doing the same thing I was, taking a moment to recover.

There!

My head shot up and I locked in on the minds of one, two... eight Malkuth soldiers! All of them alert and on duty outside... St. Binah! Yes!

I silently cheered, forcing myself back to my feet and walking, with a greater deal of purpose, this time, toward the soldiers on guard. They weren't that far away from me. I'd picked a good direction when I'd started running.

I might have been sleepwalking part of the way, or it was just so boring a walk that I forgot it all, because the next thing I remember was having a spear pointed at my face.

"Who goes there?"

I scowled. "Kairi Balfour," I announced.

One of the men snorted. "Colonel Curtiss' sister has been dead for weeks. You think we're going to believe that lie, when our commander is one of his best friends?"

I huffed, about to start in on a long rant, when another voice rang out.

"Wait!"

The soldiers turned around as another man walked up to us. He, too, was dressed in Malkuth blue. Except, his uniform I recognized.

Smirking slightly and standing at attention for a half-hearted salute, I couldn't help but be a little sarcastic when I said, "Good evening, Lieutenant Colonel. And what brings you out to this almost-a-mental-bloodbath?"

Ari stared at me before the blank mask cracked and he started laughing. "Oh yeah, you're the Colonel's sister alright." He turned to the soldiers, smile still in place. "Let her through. I'll vouch for her if anything goes wrong."

He gestured for me to follow him, and we stepped through the gates into St. Binah. I glanced down to make sure Valkyria was still there, and she was. Apparently, none of the guards were stupid enough to mess with an Aegis cat, even if she was still just a kitten.

"Jade told us Danté tried to assassinate you," Ari said after a few minutes of walking. I cringed.

"He kidnapped me," I stated, hoping the tone of voice would convince him not to pursue it any further. He stopped in front of a vaguely familiar house and knocked on the door, and I frowned, wondering whose house it was, and why he thought they would be up at this ridiculous hour.

The door opened to reveal Glenn McGovern, and I remembered Selenia telling me that he was her father. So, that explains it. This is where my Doppelganger body was when my dad died.

"Can I help you, Lieutenant Colonel Miles?" Glenn asked, obviously not in a good mood. Ari smiled and nudged me forward.

"Would you mind looking after Kairi for the night?" he asked. "She's had a rough night and could probably use a good meal on top of everything else."

Glenn looked at me for a few minutes before his eyes widened slightly and he turned back to Ari. "Kairi... You don't mean...?"

I sighed. "Yes, Kairi Balfour, I am still alive, and my body is about ten minutes from deciding I'm stupid and I need to sleep," I said. Glenn looked at me again before one corner of his mouth twitched.

"You sound like my mother-in-law..." he mumbled. "Come on in and I'll see what we can do for you."

I smiled, turned to thank Ari, and then stepped into the house behind Glenn. Now that I was inside, I recognized it easily, and could even see in my mind's eye Sync hopping along on one foot, trying to get the boot on the other. My smile faded at the memory, and I forced it away for the time being. I would grieve later. We had bigger problems to deal with at the present.

Glenn helped me get a quick bath to at least get rid of the worst of the dirt before leading me to a guest room that I immediately collapsed in. I woke around six the next morning to find a kind-faced, gray-haired woman leaning over me.

"Hello, dear..."

I smiled, closed my eyes a moment to stretch, and opened them again, tired smile still across my lips. "Morning..."

She smiled, blue eyes shining with an almost mischievous glint. Huh, I feel like I've seen that look before...

Selenia!

"You must be Selenia's grandmother..." I said quietly. She nodded.

"Call me Grams, child, or Erin if you must," she replied. "I've put your clothes into the wash for this morning, what you took off last night, at least. Do you have anything else you'd like put in?"

I yawned and finally sat up, my entire body aching, but a little less than it had been recently. "Um... Where's my wing pack?" I asked. Grams (I already knew one Erin, I didn't want to get them confused) reached over to a table and handed over the little box. I flipped it over and pulled out the clothes I'd been wearing when Danté had kidnapped me. I'd also been forced to wear them for the majority of my time in captivity. "These are in desperate need of water, soap, and a needle. I can take care of the needle, but unfortunately, I need to take another bath, a proper one this time."

Grams smiled and took the clothes. "Don't worry about that, I'll get these washed and mended for you. I think you deserve the day off. Well, as 'off' as you can manage, once my granddaughter wakes up and finds out you're here," she said, standing to leave. I giggled, swinging my feet out of the bed and heading off for that second bath.

I came out of that one a little over an hour later, having fallen back asleep for about ten minutes while trying to let the warm water relax my muscles for me.

"Grams, I think Grandpa fell asleep in the bath again..." I heard Selenia calling. I stifled my giggles and slipped into the guest bedroom to change. The green dress I'd gotten from Nephry was out of the question, as were my green strapless top and black pants outfit and the usual blue and black. Which left...

I sighed and pulled my nightgown on again. Great. I was stuck running around in a nightgown until I got my clothes back. Well, I did have the uniform Peony had given me, but I didn't think I wanted to try to deal with Glenn if I decided to wear that.

"Is that so...?" I heard Grams asking. Selenia groaned.

"You say that like you don't believe me."

I stepped out of the guest room and crossed my arms, leaning against the wall and keeping my weight off of my right leg. "Well, I only half believe you."

Selenia turned around and stared at me, then turned to look at her Grams, who was grinning like a maniac half her age. Then she looked back at me.

"Kairi?"

That little, half-broken whisper broke my heart, and my own half-smirk faded as I pushed away from the wall, took the six limping steps down the hall to reach her, and wrapped her up in my arms. I felt like Cantabile, limping like that, but I couldn't help it. My leg was killing me. I pushed the pain back, though, because Selenia was far more important all of a sudden.

"I'm here, Selly. They're not getting rid of me that easy."

Selenia broke down into tears in my arms, and Grams smiled, her eyes tinted by sadness now. I looked up at her, and she mouthed, 'I'll go find some clothes for you.'

I smiled back at her. 'Thank you.'

I left the next day for Engeve. Selenia begged me to stay, but I couldn't. I had to intercept Luke, Tear, and Jade. And I had to let Jade know I was alive. I had to. I'd seen that last chapter in Sync's point of view. I'd seen how torn up he was, and I could only imagine how much worse it had gotten with time. He was blaming himself for not being able to protect me.

It wasn't his fault. I knew that, just as surely as I knew that Asch and I would kill Van. Sync had told him, 'Kairi'll kill you. She'll find a way back, you'll see. She'll kill you!' Sync had been so sure, even though he was dying, that if my Doppelganger body died, I'd find a way back to Auldrant. And he was right. I would kill Van. Not just because he died in the game, anymore. No, this was very, very personal all of a sudden.

But it hurt, too, leaving St. Binah behind. I was still limping a bit, though I'd spent most of the previous day using Energies to reinforce the patch-job on my knee. Grams had given me a proper brace for it too, though I was wearing it under the blue and black flame pants. It helped though.

I paused about midday when I reached the fork in the road. One would take me to Grand Chokmah, but the other led to Engeve. I wondered... It was Ifritday already. Would Luke and Tear have passed by, or were they still to the west? I stood there, indecisive for many minutes.

"Meow."

I looked down at Valkyria and smiled. "You're absolutely right, Valkyria. Engeve it is," I said aloud, even though it wasn't really necessary. I turned down the road to the right and started walking, my stride finally evening out late in the afternoon as I grew accustomed to the brace. It stopped hurting not long after, and I spotted the small buildings of Engeve just as the sun was setting. I nodded to myself and looked down at the white kitten beside me.

"We'll continue in the morning," I told her, stepping over to a small patch of trees and settling in for the night with just an apple in my stomach. Valkyria curled up on my lap, and the two of us fell asleep, out of direct sight of the road, in the hollow between two tree roots.

Tomorrow, the real search would begin.


End file.
